A Boston developer who wants to create high-end residences on the Duxbury waterfront has signed an agreement to buy 11 acres that long housed an environmental research institute.

Merrill H. Diamond, of Diamond Sinacori LLC, said he envisions 35 units for empty nesters on the former Battelle Memorial Institute site.

Diamond plans to hold a meeting soon to meet with abutters and others to get feedback. He said he is looking to restore historic buildings on the site, some of which date to the early 1800s, and construct one or two more buildings.

The Washington Street parcel lies on Duxbury Bay, adjacent to Snug Harbor and near the 1803 Winsor House Inn, once a sea captain’s home.

Diamond proposes single-family residences and condominiums, with public access to the water. He said he wants the property to remain the “pastoral, bucolic setting . . . it is now.’’

He said he will talk with town officials regarding the timeline and permits, but hopes to begin work next spring. Neither he nor officials at Battelle, which in 2014 moved to a more modern facility in Norwell, would disclose the purchase price for the property.

Diamond’s company has developed the Waterworks at Chestnut Hill, the Stoneleigh condominiums at the former Norfolk County Jail in Dedham, and the Ocean’s Gate shops in Marshfield. He said he is also working on building 30 condominiums on the site of the Governor Bradford Motel on Plymouth Harbor.

Katy Delaney, a spokeswoman for Battelle, said the organization is pleased with the Duxbury agreement.

“We have worked diligently to find the right developer for this unique piece of property ­— one who shares a good vision to meet our mutual goals,’’ she said in a statement.

Battelle negotiated for more than a year with local investors who wanted to lease the land to the University of Massachusetts, but the school eventually decided against that.

Jean Lang can be reached at jeanmcmillanlang @gmail.com.